From: fortunati.luigi@gmail.com   
      
   Luigi Fortunati wrote:   
   > So, it's the two opposing forces on the rope that determine who wins and   
   > who loses in a tug of war.   
   >   
   > It is not at all true what is said, that is, that the two opposing   
   > forces (in tug-of-war) are always equal and opposite!   
   >   
   > In the end, the father wins if the force F_father_on_the_rope is greater   
   > than the force F_son_on_the_rope. The son wins if it's the opposite, and   
   > they tie if the two forces are equal.   
   >   
   > That's exactly what I was getting at.   
   >   
   > Can you confirm that this is indeed the case?   
   >   
   > Luigi Fortunati.   
      
   [[Mod. note --   
   Yes, that's correct.   
      
   Newton's 3rd law tells us that the two forces   
     F_father_on_rope (pulling right on the rope)   
   and   
     F_rope_on_father (pulling left on the father)   
   *are* always of the same magnitude.   
      
   Newton's 3rd law also tells us that the two forces   
     F_son_on_rope (pulling left on the rope)   
   and   
     F_rope_on_son (pulling right on the son)   
   *are* always of the same magnitude.   
      
   But the two forces   
     F_father_on_rope (pulling right on the rope)   
   and   
     F_son_on_rope (pulling left on the rope),   
   are in general NOT of the same magnitude.  None of Newton's laws   
   specifies which of these is larger in magnitude.   
   -- jt]]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)